Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show
Awarded forOutstanding Game Show
CountryUnited States
Presented by
First awarded1974
Last awarded2022
Most awardsJeopardy! (19)
Most nominationsJeopardy! (38)
Websitetheemmys.tv/daytime/
RelatedReplaced by the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show

The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show was an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was given in honor of a game show that features "contestants, either alone or as part of a team, who play a game involving answering questions or solving problems for money and/or prizes".[1] Programs that have aired at least 15 original episodes for the calendar year are eligible to enter.[1] In 2020, a category requirement has changed, lowering the number of required original episodes from fifteen to eight.[2]

The 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held in 1974 with the game show Password receiving the award.[3] The award category was originally called Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show before changing to its current title in 2013.[3][4][5] The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for voting integrity.[6][7] The Emmy was named after an "Immy", an affectionate term used to refer to the image orthicon camera tube.[8] The statuette was designed by Louis McManus, who modeled the award after his wife, Dorothy.[8] The Emmy statuette is fifteen inches tall from base to tip, weighing five pounds and is composed of iron, pewter, zinc and gold.[8]

Since its inception, the award has been given to ten game shows. In 1980, The $20,000 Pyramid and Hollywood Squares tied for the award, which was the first tie in this category. This situation repeated later only in 2011, with Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune both winning the award. In 2006, Jeopardy! became the series with the most wins in the category when it won a tenth time, surpassing Pyramid's previous record of nine; Jeopardy! went on to win in six additional years, ultimately receiving seventeen wins. Jeopardy! also has been nominated on 36 occasions, more than any other series.

In 2023, this category was moved to the Primetime Emmy Awards as part of a re-alignment of categories between NATAS and ATAS.[9]

  1. ^ a b "The 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Award: By Category Submission Guide" (PDF). New York City: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. ^ "The 48th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award: What's New?" (PDF). New York City: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Daytime winners". Boca Raton News. Boca Raton, Florida: South Florida Media Company. Associated Press. May 29, 1974. p. 10. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "The 39th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". New York City: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. May 9, 2013. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "The 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations". New York City: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. May 1, 2013. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  6. ^ "Controversial Daytime Emmy show will go on". The Gainesville Sun. Gainesville, Florida: Halifax Media Group. June 8, 1985. p. 142. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  7. ^ Passalacqua, Connie (August 23, 1985). "Soap scoop: Daytime Emmys need improvement". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta: (Postmedia Network Inc.). p. 89. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "Emmy Central: The Daytime Emmys® on soapcentral.com". Philadelphia: Soapcentral. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  9. ^ "Emmy Awards Update: Game Show Categories". Television Academy. 10 August 2022.